I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and... I believe in miracles. ~Audrey Hepburn

Monday, December 29, 2008

Holidaze

Now that the brunt of the dreaded holiday season is behind me I am starting to regain some sanity and balance. Key word starting.

The actual holiday was relatively low key. There was some hope of playing in the snow on Christmas eve and/or Christmas day, but as my ribs are still uber sore it was taken off the schedule. Instead the running buddy took me for a nice dinner on Christmas eve, followed by drinks at the local open 365 days a year dive bar. Hey, beggars can't be choosers. We also did a little gift exchanging, which while unexpected, and sort of overwhelming, was awesome. The running buddy recruited my coworker Geoff to snoop in my stuff to see what size I would need (those scoundrels!! and I was sitting there while this snooping took place) so that he could get me the Patagonia R2!!I love it and all its furry goodness!!! Now truth be told, the gift was a little selfish. Every time the running buddy wore his R2 I would insist on petting him. I was told now that I have my own I can stop doing that. I'd like to think of this as the running buddy's loss and my gain really. My present for him was a vintage Old Style t-shirt (ask me sometime about the backpack full of skunky Old Style...).Not to be outdone, I also made sure to share one of my guilty pleasures with him. I subjected the running buddy to watching Crossroads, the high quality Britney flick. Love it. Who doesn't love a lil Britney now and again?!

Other than the fine cinematography, the best part of the evening was tie between the fact the running buddy wrapped my present, which for him was making a MAJOR effort, and the chill hanging out time. So it really isn't a close tie, or a tie at all, but I did love the wrapping jobs (Christmas paper complete with PINK bows). Its definitely a landslide win by the quality time. Thanks running buddy.

I slept most of Christmas day. I think I rolled out of bed finally for good around 4 or so. Sometimes a girl just needs her beauty sleep. After some eating, putzing around the apartment, and primping, the running buddy took me to a holiday thang at a friend's house. There were Old Fashioneds and Trivial Pursuit. Oh, and way too much food. But it was good time. I tell ya, that running buddy really stepped up his game this holiday. Who know he was such a swell guy?!

Friday we ventured out for a little run action. It had actual warmed up quite a bit, and by that I mean it went from 0 to low 30's. I have determined during this run that while the snow makes for a lower impact more forgiving experience, I really dislike running on ice. And seeing as this year Madison has opted not to do a good job of keeping the paths and such clear, everything is unpleasantly icy. I was also hoping that running would aggravate my ribs less, but it seems as though everything is still bothering it. I guess that's the price to pay to be epic.

OH!! The other redeeming quality of this years holiday bs is that my dear friend from college was back in the state and we got to spend some quality time together. Jamie and here bf Franklin had taken the time out of their fancy schmancy NYC lifestyle to come back to Wisco for some family and friends time. And I got to hang out with them!!Saturday the running buddy and I had high hopes for another run, but my ribs were still reeling and angry from the day before, so in the interest of not continuing to aggravate them we opted to lay low. Saturday night another one of my coworkers was in town and we all did dinner and drinks, followed by a birthday get together for another friend. Franklin was nice enough to let Jamie come out and play with me and have some quality girl time Saturday night, which was awesome! =D We've renewed our vows to keep in touch better and even made some future get together plans.The weekend was wrapped up with brunch with Jamie, Franklin and friends, evening drinks with more in town friends, and one exhausted Katie!! How is it that with 4 1/2 days off I am even more tired than when I started?! I have my bike home finally from product testing and am looking to get back on the trainer, I found a master swim course in the area that sounds promising, and any day now my ribs will stop hurting enough to get out and get my run on. Did I mention I'm laying off of snowboarding for a while....